Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Japan's Marukin Ramen at Scotts Square

Another chain from Japan has opened up a branch in Singapore, with this one being at the newly opened Scotts Square (6 Scotts Road #B1-11, 6636-3468). But in contrast to the chain's usual tonkotsu broth, these guys created a chicken-based broth, apparently in an effort to be halal.

Normally I would frown on such a deviation from the original, but given the tonkotsu fatigue that was discussed yesterday, I was actually kind of glad that that did that. All things considered, they did a decent job of getting this chicken broth to a tonkotsu-like white color, all while staying savory and refreshing at the same time. I haven't seen tsukune used as a topping before either.

But there wasn't much else that I liked about this place. The noodles were overcooked, the gyoza were a bore, and perhaps most shockingly, they weren't serving any beer! This isn't going to be a regular place of mine as a result, but at least it kept from adding to the tonkotsu clutter, even if that technically is still my favorite variety of ramen.